Woodbine Mohawk Park: Tuscan Prince, Osceola bounce back in OSS Gold Series

Tuscan Prince and Osceola rebounded after making breaks in their last starts to win the two Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series showdowns for 3-year-old male trotters on Friday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Driven by Louis-Philippe Roy in the opening C$100,400 split, Tuscan Prince, who miscued at Grand River on August 14 after having traffic trouble in his Hambletonian elimination before that, led through fractions of 28 1/5, 57 2/5 and 1:24 3/5 on his way to the victory by three-parts of a length in 1:52 3/5. Hasty Bid (James MacDonald) was the runner-up and Ghostly Casper (Sylvain Filion) came in third.

"He's kind of a bad luck horse and sometimes he creates his own bad luck. I was really disappointed about my drive in the Hambletonian elims because that night he was feeling good and he liked that track that night," remarked Roy. "I got locked in with him. I had a lot of horse and couldn't get out at any point. It's not the Hambletonian, but it's always nice to win a Gold."

Bred by Harbor Racing Stable, the Kadabra gelding is trained by Luc Blais for owner Determination. Tuscan Prince is a six-time winner, has earned C$284,519 and paid $6.40 to win.

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In the second C$101,300 tilt, The Hazelton (Bob McClure) took command past the 27 1/5 opening quarter and then opened up on the field through middle-half panels of 56 and 1:24 4/5. The Hazelton was still clear turning for home, but Osceola (Doug McNair), who went first-up out of fourth beyond the half, tracked him down inside the final eighth and went by en route to a 2 1/4 length triumph in 1:53 3/5. The Hazelton had to settle for second and Musical Ride (Filion) grabbed third.

"He's a good horse. There wouldn't be anything he would do that would surprise me," trainer Gregg McNair said about Osceola, who went off-stride on the far turn in the Hambletonian final earlier this month. "He got hobbles back on him there tonight. I was just going to train him easy the other day. I just let him trot a little bit heading into the turn past the half at home, only to go off-stride. I said, well, 'you're going to have to wear the hobbles,' so we put them back on him."

Gregg McNair also co-owns Osceola, a Muscle Mass colt, with breeder Willow Oak Ranch and their partner Paul Hawman. Osceola has a record of 6-1-2 from 18 appearances, sent his bankroll to C$359,230 and returned $2.60 to win.